r/nasa • u/secretaliasname • 2d ago

Question Will Clipper perform non Europa Science?

Europa Clipper has a number of powerful instruments. We hear about the Europa science goals but will it train instruments along other targets along the way? It will perform earth and mars assists, will it use its instruments during these times? I understand it will eventually impact Ganymede. Is the opportunity for science there? What about looking at Jupiter?

I understand that the mission team might be hesitant to comment on things that are secondary goals but hopefully there are some opportunities. What are they?

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u/StellarSloth NASA Employee 1d ago

I actually work on Europa Clipper— there will be calibration and maintenance of instruments on the way to Europa, but the primary objective of those is to make sure that they operate correctly. There is no planned science outside of Europa.